Angel versus Alec
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Teaching notes
Victorian ideas of masculinity: There is more information on the John Ruskin essay in the
‘Characterisation of Tess’ resource (24225) on Teachit English.
Hero or villain can be used as it is, or to make it more challenging you could use the interactive
version to get students to match up the statements with Angel and Alec. If you return to this
activity for revision, remove chapter numbers for an even more challenging activity.
Other teaching ideas
Quotation banks
Students could develop their own quotation banks on the two male characters as well as Tess;
knowing a few succinct quotes per character can impress in a closed book exam and save time
searching the text in an open book exam, e.g.
(Referring to Alec) ‘Out of the frying-pan into the fire!’ – Car’s mother cries this as he ‘saves’
Tess from an argument with Car near the end of Chapter 10. Alec obviously has a bad reputation
amongst the local women.
Agony Uncle letters
This activity is similar to one on the ‘Characterisation of Tess’ resource (24225) on Teachit
English. Students could write a letter to an Agony Uncle in character as either Angel or Alec at a
critical point in the narrative, e.g. Angel could write for advice on asking Izz to marry him and
accompany him to Brazil; Alec could write for advice on pursuing Tess when he sees her at
Flintcomb Ash, knowing Angel has left her.
Essay questions
Here are a couple of sample essay questions that might prove helpful as you prepare your
students for their exam.
‘Compare how far you agree that the female characters in the texts you have studied are
presented as exploited by the men they love or are dependent on.’ (Suitable for AQA A Love
Through the Ages; and Edexcel Women and Society).
‘Explore how far the desire to be happy causes tragic circumstances in Tess of the d’Urbervilles
(AS) / two texts you have studied (A level). ’ You should include in your answer relevant
analysis of how a writer’s language choices shape meaning. (Suitable for AQA B Aspects of
Tragedy).
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Angel versus Alec
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Different interpretations (AO5)
You should encourage exploration of how texts can be interpreted in different ways by
approaching them from different perspectives in student discussion or written work. Teachit
English resource ‘Different interpretations of literary texts’ (22181) might help here.
A feminist approach would explore the attitudes of Angel and Alec towards Tess and other
female characters in the novel, and the power relations involved.
A Marxist approach would explore the attitudes of the different social classes towards each
other, and the power relations involved.
A psychoanalytical approach would look at characters’ personal motivations, as well as the
author’s point of view and reasons for writing the story (also AO3).
You can find some interesting reading material on different interpretations on the following
websites. All information is correct at the time of publication.
crossref-it.info
This website would be suitable for students who are aiming for a high grade:
go to ‘Detailed text guides’ and click on Tess of the d’Urbervilles
use the search box top right to find ‘feminist interpretations’ and ‘social realism’
research other interpretations on the site, e.g. Romantic perspectives
go to ‘Successful study’ and click on ‘Text specific further reading and resources’
click on Tess of the d’Urbervilles for a list of further reading suggestions.
theliteraryindex.com
This site has links to essays on a range of issues, which tend to be academic and more suitable
for teachers than students, but nevertheless might be worth a look.
Click on H for Hardy and scroll down to find Tess articles, including one on psychoanalytical
readings.
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Angel versus Alec
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
An important focus of Thomas Hardy’s novel is the effect of these two male characters on Tess’s
life. The actions of both characters strongly influence Tess’s experiences, and the attitudes of
others towards her.
First meetings
Read closely the first meetings of both characters with Tess and make notes on the effect of:
the omniscient third person narrative
the context and tone of each meeting
interactions and dialogue between the characters
Hardy’s use of imagery and symbolism.
1. First meetings with Angel:
a) Chapter 2 – ‘club-dance’ at Marlott. Read from ‘Among these on-lookers were three
young men …’
b) Chapter 17 – a second ‘first meeting’ at Talbothays dairy (Angel doesn’t remember Tess
from their first). Read from ‘But the details of his aspect were temporarily…’ to ‘…
she had realised in a moment from the time he had spent upon the milking of one
cow.’ Then read Chapter 18 from ‘For several days after Tess’s arrival Clare…’ How
old is Tess here, when he calls her ‘maidy’?
2. First meeting with Alec:
Chapter 5 – Tess visits The Slopes to claim kin; read from ‘The d’Urbervilles – or Stoked’Urbervilles, as they at first called themselves …’. How does he make Tess feel
uncomfortable? Consider the symbolism of the strawberry incident. How old is Tess here
when Alec calls her ‘my Beauty’?
Victorian ideas of masculinity
Read the following extract from John Ruskin’s 1865 essay ‘Of Queen’s Gardens’ which presents
Victorian ideas about men’s role in society (AO3):
The man’s power is active, progressive, defensive. He is eminently the doer, the creator, the
discoverer, the defender. His intellect is for speculation and invention; his energy for
adventure, for war, and for conquest, wherever war is just, wherever conquest necessary …
The man, in his rough work in open world, must encounter all peril and trial: to him,
therefore, must be the failure, the offence, the inevitable error: often he must be wounded,
or subdued; often misled; and always hardened. But he guards the woman from all this …
What image of a man does the first paragraph present to you?
How does the idea of a man differ in the second paragraph?
What is men’s ‘inevitable error’ that ‘he guards the woman from’? Discuss your ideas so far on
Victorian double standards for men and women.
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Angel versus Alec
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Angel and Alec as Victorian men
Consider how Angel and Alec fit Ruskin’s ideas about men. Explore their
characters by answering the following questions.
1. Are their names – Angel Clare and Alec d’Urberville – symbolic, and/or ironic?
2. ‘there was an uncribbed, uncabined aspect in his eyes and attire…’ (Chapter
2, aged about 20)
‘his mobile face had grown more thoughtful, and had acquired a young man’s
shapely moustache and beard – the latter of the palest straw colour where it
began upon his cheeks’ (Chapter 17, aged 26)
Discuss how far:
Angel’s physical appearance fits the way he is presented in these chapters: a
good man, intelligent, idealistic, brought up in a religious family but resisting his
parents’ conventional plans for him, instead making his own way in life learning
to be a farmer.
‘…a tall young man, smoking. He had an almost swarthy complexion, with full
lips, badly moulded, though red and smooth, above which was a well-groomed
black moustache with curled points, though his age could not be more than
three-or four-and-twenty.’ (Chapter 5)
Discuss how far:
Alec’s physical description fits the stereotype of a Victorian melodrama villain.
He is presented as an amoral, calculating predator who uses his inherited
merchant father’s wealth to indulge his desires and exploit Tess’s naivety.
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Angel versus Alec
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Hero or villain?
Find dictionary and/or literary definitions of:
Hero:
Villain:
Now look at the following incidents in the novel and decide in each case whether you think the character involved is a hero or a villain, giving your
reasons, with supporting textual evidence.
Angel:
Chapter 2 and Chapter 17/18: he
doesn’t dance with Tess, then
doesn’t remember her when they
meet again at Talbothay’s dairy.
Chapter 23: carries Tess over a flood
so that she can get to church.
Chapter 30: fails to understand and
dismisses Tess’s misgivings about
getting married.
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Angel versus Alec
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Chapter 33: hits a man who he thinks
has insulted Tess’s good name.
Chapter 34: on their wedding night,
confesses ‘eight-and-forty hours’
dissipation with a stranger’ but when
Tess makes her confession, will not
forgive her and abandons her.
Chapter 40: has decided to go to
Brazil and asks Izz to accompany him,
but goes alone when she says she
cannot love him more than Tess does.
Chapter 53: receives a letter from Izz
and Marian warning him of Tess’s
predicament and he returns to
England to find her.
Alec
Chapter 5: he lies about being a
relation and he exploits her
innocence.
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Angel versus Alec
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Chapter 8: has given Tess a job, but
strives to dominate her sexually, e.g.
with a ‘kiss of mastery’.
Chapter 10: under the cover of
rescuing Tess from an argument,
takes her to The Chase and rapes her
there.
Chapter 45/46: when he meets Tess
again, he has reformed and become a
‘ranter’; he follows Tess, asks her to
marry and go to Africa with him.
Chapter 47: when he loses his new
found faith, he blames Tess as a
‘temptress’.
Chapter 51/52: when Tess’s family
have to leave their home, the selfconfessed ‘sham d’Urberville’ offers
to provide for them, even for them to
live at The Slopes.
Chapter 56: has succeeded in making
Tess live with him as his wife by
convincing her that the other man
will never return for her.
Find other examples of how the two men behave towards Tess and her family, e.g. who pays the bill for her father’s headstone? (Chapter 54)
Do you have any sympathy for Angel or for Alec? Might they be victims too? If so, of what?
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Angel versus Alec
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Final moments
Read closely the final moments of both characters with Tess.
Alec
Angel
Read Chapter 56, where the reader
witnesses Alec and Tess arguing, from their
landlady’s point of view, watching through
the keyhole and listening at their drawingroom door. Later, she is alerted to what has
happened by the ‘scarlet blot … ace of
hearts’ growing on her own apartment
ceiling.
Read Chapter 58: the reader witnesses Tess’s
arrest from Angel’s point of view. While
watching over Tess as she sleeps, he sees the
police surrounding them. He ‘implores’ the
police to let Tess finish her sleep and they
do. Also, comment on Tess’s wishes
regarding Liza-Lu.
Write a comparison of Tess’s final moments with them, considering:
the omniscient third person narrative
the context and tone of each meeting
interactions and dialogue between the characters
Hardy’s use of imagery and symbolism, especially mythological references:
o What is Ixion’s myth? (Chapter 56)
o Who are Antinous and Apollo? (Chapter 57)
o What is significant about the setting being Stonehenge? (Chapter 58)
o How are these relevant to Tess’s plight in these final chapters?
Hold the front page!
Choose one of these incidents to write up as a newspaper article:
‘Man found knifed in the heart at The Herons. Wife is prime suspect.’ for the
Sandbourne Gazette (tabloid style)
‘Fugitive in dawn capture at Stonehenge sentenced to death’ for the
Wintoncester Times (broadsheet style)
If you need to, remind yourself of the features of tabloids versus broadsheets. Identify which
aspects apply to your chosen style of reporting. Write a one page article in an appropriate style,
using details from the novel as your ‘facts’.
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